HM Payson & Co. Sells 6,181 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

HM Payson & Co. cut its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 191,190 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,181 shares during the period. HM Payson & Co.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $16,047,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Old North State Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.0% in the third quarter. Old North State Wealth Management LLC now owns 18,884 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,587,000 after acquiring an additional 556 shares during the last quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.2% during the 3rd quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,903 shares of the company’s stock worth $498,000 after acquiring an additional 1,333 shares during the last quarter. SS&H Financial Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.3% during the third quarter. SS&H Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 53,093 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,456,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. FLC Capital Advisors raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.5% in the third quarter. FLC Capital Advisors now owns 86,607 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,269,000 after acquiring an additional 2,078 shares during the period. Finally, Encompass More Asset Management raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 20.8% in the 3rd quarter. Encompass More Asset Management now owns 5,567 shares of the company’s stock valued at $467,000 after acquiring an additional 958 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $106.90 on Monday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $95.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $87.17. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $73.31 and a 1-year high of $107.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $265.33 billion, a PE ratio of 14.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.29.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The company reported $1.94 earnings per share for the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 29.63% and a return on equity of 44.54%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be given a $0.85 dividend. This is a boost from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.91%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Merck & Co., Inc. from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $90.00 to $125.00 in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $92.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $110.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.59, for a total transaction of $720,044.26. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 24,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,054,475.02. The trade was a 25.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

Merck & Co, Inc is a global biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery, development, manufacture and marketing of prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies and animal health products. Its portfolio spans multiple therapeutic areas with a particular emphasis on oncology, vaccines and infectious disease, as well as therapies for metabolic and chronic conditions. Among its well-known products are the cancer immunotherapy Keytruda (pembrolizumab) and the human papillomavirus vaccine Gardasil; the company also markets a range of medicines and vaccines for veterinary use through Merck Animal Health.

Founded in the late 19th century as the U.S.